Breastmilk pumps are well-known, and generally comprise a hood, or shield, which fits over the breast. A vacuum pump is connected to the shield for generating an intermittent vacuum (i.e., negative pressure) within the shield. A receptacle is provided in communication with the shield for receiving the breast milk expressed during operation of the pump.
The action of the pump creates an intermittent vacuum within the shield, which serves to create an environment reminiscent of suckling and thus, causes expression of breast milk from the mother's breast. The milk so expressed is ordinarily collected in a bottle or other container for storage and later use. Such breast pumps are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,857,051; 5,007,899; and 5,071,403 for example.
It is also well-known to provide a breast pump which can be used in both single (one breast) and double (both breasts) modes of operation, i.e., expressing breast milk from one breast at a time or simultaneously. For example, Medela, Inc., to which the present invention is assigned, provides a multi-port connector for use with its commercialized CLASSIC vacuum pump apparatus. In a double-pumping mode, two airlines connect to a pair of ports in a connector, which in turn is connected to a pump. The airlines are individually connected to two breast pump assemblies (to convey changes in pressure to the connected breast shields). Two adapters are further provided, each containing a milk barrier to prevent milk from reaching the vacuum pump. Each adapter is releasably attached to a respective breast pump assembly through a threaded engagement. This arrangement using the connector including two adapters of the foregoing type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,403.
With the above noted configuration, single pumping is achieved by removing one of the tubes from the connector to disconnect the breastshield. A plug is inserted into the joint or receptacle from which the tube was removed so that suction is achieved only in the remaining breastshield. In using this design, the user has to disconnect the tube from both the shield and the joint and plug the joint to inactivate one of the two breast shields. The suction level for single pumping can be higher due to the loss in fluid volume compared with two breast shields. The removed tubing can be misplaced or lost.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,722 is a connector for use in single and double breast pumping. This connector has a tubular housing with an internal wall extending across the housing interior to divide it into two chambers. One chamber has an outlet for attachment to an air tube for single breast pumping, while the second chamber has two outlets for attachment to two air tubes for double breast pumping.
In this configuration, when a woman wants to only pump one breast, the tube from the inactive breastshield is removed from the breast pump and a plug is inserted into the open port of the pump to close it off. The plug may also provide for a predetermined amount of air leakage to simulate the load of the disconnected breastshield, so that the single shield pumping suction level is substantially the same to the double pumping vacuum level. However, the user may accidentally tangle the two tubes, either during storage, setup, or use. Tangled tubes can also lead to a nursing mother accidentally disconnecting the incorrect breastshield when single breast pumping is desired.
Thus, a breastpump that eliminates a significant number of connections and attachment parts for transition between single and double breast pumping would be considered a desired improvement in the art, thereby facilitating easier use of a breast pump and yielding fewer parts for the user to carry, clean, misplace or manipulate.